Joe Biden

Within hours of the news that Cecil the Lion had been killed in Zimbabwe by a Minnesota dentist, Congresswoman Betty McCollum called for a federal investigation. And an investigation by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is also underway.

Vice President Joe Biden has announced that his son, Beau, has died of brain cancer. The younger Biden was a lawyer, member of the Delaware National Guard and former Delaware attorney general. He was 46.

On Tuesday, Vice President Joe Biden swore in 71 new members to the 114th Congress, including the first Black Republican woman elected to the U.S. House from Utah. This group of 535 people is now the most diverse in U.S. history.

Election Day is just two weeks away, and Minnesota Democrats are getting support from some of the most popular national campaigners. First Lady Michelle Obama was the main attraction at an energetic get-out-the-vote rally at Patrick Henry High School in Minneapolis. This was the first of three high-profile Democrats to be stumping the state for Minnesota Democratic candidates this week.

Former President Jimmy Carter and Vice President Joe Biden will pay tribute to Joan Adams Mondale and her two sons will read from Scripture at the former second lady’s memorial service. A program for Saturday’s service provides a look at the service for the wife of former Vice President Walter Mondale. It was posted Friday on the website of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis.

Vice President Joe Biden is headed to Minnesota for a fundraiser for the national Democratic Party. Biden is due at a Democratic National Committee event in Minneapolis on Feb. 19, a DNC official said Wednesday. The White House also confirmed that Biden would be in Minnesota that day. The fundraising trip was first reported by the Minneapolis Star Tribune. An invitation obtained by the newspaper seeks contributions of up to $32,400. The fundraiser is being held at the Minneapolis restaurant owned by Gov. Mark Dayton’s sons.

The U.S. is taking steps to strike Syria after officials say the Syrian government used chemical weapons on its own people last week. Bashar al-Assad’s government denies the claim, but the U.S. says they’ve crossed the “red line” President Barack Obama talked about last year.

Mounting questions are being asked about Benghazi, which could lead to the Oval Office. If it is found that President Barack Obama lied about not knowing that the attack was a terrorist attack the nation could very likely repeat the events of Nixon’s resignation.

Can anyone other than Vice President Joe Biden himself imagine Joe Biden as a presidential candidate after all we’ve learned about him in the past four years while he has sat one heartbeat away from the presidency?

Both political parties – Republicans and Democrats – are known for getting carelessly carried away with name calling when stakes and tensions are high in the political arena. Regardless, there is no excuse for the type of name-calling that has surfaced over the past week.